Scottish Executive

Digital Technology

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-8939 by Mr Jim Wallace on 23 June 2004, whether its plans include ensuring that all people and businesses that are currently too remote from their local telephone exchange to receive asymmetric digital subscriber line are able to access it.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is taking forward a procurement exercise to bring broadband to every community in Scotland by the end of 2005. This intervention is supplier neutral and will not stipulate any particular technology for providing access.

Enterprise

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, if it is satisfied that Stockline Plastics Ltd is financially unable to meet the wages of employees facing unemployment as a result of the tragic accident at its factory on 11 May 2004, it will consider providing emergency financial aid to meet such wages and, if so, whether such aid will apply for a reasonable length of time, given the uncertainty surrounding the future of the site of the factory.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive extends its sympathies to those affected by this tragic accident and has, through Scottish Enterprise Glasgow and Careers Scotland, provided advice and support regarding the future of the factory and will continue to do so. The company's financial obligations and the question of welfare benefits are matters reserved to the UK Government.

Enterprise

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the start-up rate was for small businesses in (a) each local authority and (b) Scotland in each year since 1997 and what information it has on the equivalent rate for the United Kingdom as a whole for the same time period.

Mr Jim Wallace: The standard measure of business start up rates is the number of businesses registering for VAT. These figures are compiled by the DTI. The current turnover threshold, for which firms have to register, is £58,000. Although the VAT registration data does not differentiate by size of firm, the table below is believed to be a very good approximation of start-up rates for small firms since we know from the Inter-Departmental Business Register that some 99% of firms registering for VAT are small firms, where small is defined as having less than 50 employees. Information on numbers of VAT registration by local authority is given in the following table.

  Table 1: VAT Registration Rates per 10,000 of the Adult Population Aged 16 and Over for Scottish Local Authorities, 1997-2002

  

 

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002



Aberdeen City

44

40

33

33

30

35



Aberdeenshire

47

40

31

35

32

30



Angus

23

24

23

23

22

18



Argyll and Bute

28

28

30

26

30

31



Clackmannanshire

22

21

22

18

21

20



Dumfries and Galloway

30

27

26

23

26

27



Dundee City

21

23

21

23

23

19



East Ayrshire

23

21

26

21

23

23



East Dunbartonshire

24

26

24

24

24

21



East Lothian

28

26

27

26

24

26



East Renfrewshire

30

26

27

24

23

23



Edinburgh, City of

42

42

38

40

37

33



Eilean Siar

40

34

32

21

23

26



Falkirk

25

20

22

21

21

23



Fife

25

22

23

22

21

22



Glasgow City

35

35

35

33

33

30



Highland

37

39

34

32

32

33



Inverclyde

17

18

15

18

16

18



Midlothian

23

22

23

25

22

24



Moray

28

22

22

25

21

22



North Ayrshire

20

22

22

22

19

21



North Lanarkshire

21

19

20

21

21

21



Orkney Islands

45

39

39

45

36

39



Perth and Kinross

38

36

35

35

35

34



Renfrewshire

25

24

25

23

24

23



Scottish Borders

33

30

39

33

31

33



Shetland Islands

59

57

46

43

26

38



South Ayrshire

27

25

26

27

27

28



South Lanarkshire

26

27

24

25

27

27



Stirling

41

39

39

38

32

37



West Dunbartonshire

15

13

19

17

15

13



West Lothian

27

28

29

27

28

24



  Information on VAT registration rates for Scotland and the UK since 1997 is shown in the following table.

  Table 2: VAT Registration Rates Per 10,000 of the Adult Population Aged 16 and Over for Scotland and the UK, 1997-2002

  

 

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002



Scotland

31

29

29

28

28

28



United Kingdom

41

40

39

39

37

37

Enterprise

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many firms have been helped by (a) grants for research and development, (b) grants for investigating an innovative idea and (c) knowledge transfer partnerships since 1999.

Mr Jim Wallace: (a) Grant for Research and Development is a DTI initiative and is available to firms based in England only. The information requested is not held by the Scottish Executive. However, Grant for Research and Development incorporates DTI's equivalent of each of the Scottish Executive's SMART, SPUR and SPUR PLUS  grant schemes. Since 1 January 1999, 254 companies based in Scotland have been supported by the SMART, SPUR and SPUR PLUS programmes.

  (b) DTI's Grant for Research and Development also incorporates assistance for Investigating an Innovative Idea. The Scottish Executive has no direct equivalent of this scheme, although similar support is provided in Scotland by the Enterprise Network and the Innovators Counselling and Advisory Service for Scotland (ICASS). The specific information requested is not held by the Scottish Executive.

  (c) Since 1 January 1999, 1,821 UK based companies have been assisted through Knowledge Transfer Partnerships. Of these, 218 companies were based in Scotland.

Enterprise

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) inward investment decisions were made and (b) new jobs were created through inward investment in each year from 1999 to 2003.

Mr Jim Wallace: Scottish Development International (SDI) records information on inward investment projects in which SDI and its partners have had a significant involvement. The figures reflect the number of jobs which a company plans to create or safeguard at the time its decision to invest in Scotland is made. They do not record the total number of jobs created through inward investment in a given year. SDI's recorded figures for 1999 to 2003 are in the following table.

  


Year

Projects

Planned New Jobs



1999-2000

91

14,995



2000-01

102

9,742



2001-02

59

4,902



2002-03

57

4,494

Enterprise

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many new businesses have been registered in each of the last four years, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Jim Wallace: The number of new businesses that have been registered for VAT in the last four years in each of Scotland's local authorities is shown in the following Table 1. This data is produced by the Department of Trade and Industry and 2002 is the most recent year for which data is available.

  Table 1: VAT Registrations by Local Authority 1999-2002

  


 

1999

2000

2001

2002



Aberdeen City

580

595

525

610



Aberdeenshire

555

635

580

540



Angus

205

200

195

160



Argyll and Bute

225

195

225

230



Clackmannanshire

85

70

80

75



Dumfries and Galloway

310

280

310

320



Dundee City

250

280

270

230



East Ayrshire

250

200

225

220



East Dunbartonshire

205

205

205

180



East Lothian

190

185

170

185



East Renfrewshire

190

170

160

160



Edinburgh City of

1,420

1,490

1,400

1,250



Eilean Siar

70

45

50

55



Falkirk

255

240

240

270



Fife

650

615

585

625



Glasgow City

1,640

1,560

1,545

1,425



Highland

565

530

530

555



Inverclyde

100

120

110

120



Midlothian

145

160

140

155



Moray

150

170

145

150



North Ayrshire

240

235

205

225



North Lanarkshire

520

540

545

545



Orkney Islands

60

70

55

60



Perth and Kinross

380

385

380

375



Renfrewshire

355

315

330

325



Scottish Borders The

335

280

265

290



Shetland Islands

80

75

45

65



South Ayrshire

235

250

250

255



South Lanarkshire

590

610

655

655



Stirling

270

265

225

260



West Dunbartonshire

140

130

115

100



West Lothian

345

325

350

305



  Source: DTI 2003.

Enterprise

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to encourage new businesses to set up in Clydesdale.

Mr Jim Wallace: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-8768 answered on 17 June 2004. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Enterprise

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the most up-to-date figures are that it has comparing business start-up rates in (a) Scotland, (b) the rest of the United Kingdom and (c) leading OECD countries on a like-for-like basis.

Mr Jim Wallace: Business start-up rates in Scotland can be compared with the rest of the UK using data produced by the Department of Trade and Industry on the number of businesses registering for VAT per 10,000 adults. The most recent data is for 2002.

  Table 1: VAT Registrations per 10,000 Adults in 2002

  


Scotland

28



Rest of UK

38



  Source: DTI 2003

  Directly comparable data for leading OECD countries is not available.

  Table 2 shows more a more detailed breakdown comparing business start up rates in all UK regions.

  Table 2: VAT Registrations per 10,000 Adults by Region

  


United Kingdom

37



North East 

21



North West 

33



Yorkshire and the Humber 

31



East Midlands 

36



West Midlands 

34



East 

41



London 

57



South East 

44



South West 

37



England

39



Wales

26



Scotland

28



Northern Ireland

27



  Source: DTI 2003.

Enterprise

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many redundancy notices have been issued by (a) companies and (b) administrators in each of the last 10 years.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is not held centrally.

  However, the following table contains the total number of redundancy notices that the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry was notified of in Scotland since 1997.

  


Year

Number of Redundancy Notices Issued



1997

25,705



1998

28,962



1999

35,360



2000

25,509



2001

54,065



2002

27,641



2003

28,817



  The information is supplied by the Department of Trade and Industry and information prior to 1997 is not available.

Environment

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress it has made on its consideration of the research organisation assessment exercise carried out by its Environment and Rural Affairs Department (SEERAD).

Ross Finnie: The outcomes from the Research Organisation Assessment Exercise (ROAE) have been considered as part of the review of the research strategy which has been undertaken by the SEERAD Agricultural and Biological Research Group. A draft research strategy will issue for consultation shortly.

  Implementation of ROAE recommendations is also being taken forward in discussion with each of the sponsored bodies concerned.

Higher Education

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether paying the fees of Scottish students studying in England would require the Executive to pay the fees of every European Union student at an English University

Mr Jim Wallace: European Union anti-discrimination rules require us to treat students from European Union member states in the same way that we treat students who are nationals of our state with regard to tuition fee support. Ultimately it is for the courts to decide the definitive interpretation of such rules.

Homelessness

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on local authorities' housing and homelessness staff having access to the internet in order to access guidance and good practice in their area of expertise.

Ms Margaret Curran: A Code of Guidance on Homelessness , produced by the Scottish Executive, is available to assist local authority practitioners in the exercise of their duties under the homelessness legislation. An updated edition of the Code was produced in May 2004 and users are currently being asked to comment on its use in practice before it is published in loose-leaf format. It is available through the Scottish Executive's website and may be downloaded for off-line use. Local authorities have been asked to bring it to the attention of all staff who need to access it and each local authority will make their own arrangements as appropriate.

Local Government

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, with reference to the report in Scotland on Sunday on 27 June 2004 relating to the tender and post-tender process followed by the City of Edinburgh Council for the £60 million extension to the Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC), (a) what information it has received about the matter, (b) whether the Executive has offered any advice to the council on the matter, (c) whether one bidder was permitted to alter the details of their bid after being named the preferred bidder, whether this procedure is in accordance with procurement law and whether the Executive has offered any advice on this matter and, if not, whether it will now do so, (d) whether one bidder, the Cala-Morrison consortium, was given specific information that other bidders did not receive, namely, that the council had agreed to rent the offices being built next to the EICC on a 20-year lease at £5.4 million a year, (e) whether providing information to one bidder and not other bidders is a breach of the rules and law governing the tender process, (f) what its position is on whether the council should invite all parties to resubmit their offers and what the reasons are for its position on the matter, (g) whether legal responsibility on such matters lies with the council and, if so, whether any extra costs that may result from, for example, any legal action in respect of any breach of the tender process, should be solely the responsibility of the council and not the Executive, (h) whether it will intervene in respect of this matter, (i) whether the Executive is in regular contact with the council in a similar manner to its regular contact with Her Majesty's Government, (j) whether the Executive is concerned that a director of one of the property developers quoted in the report stated that "None of the other bidders got to consider the deal with a pre-let to the council", (k) whether the Executive considers that one bidder has been preferred in the tender process, (l) whether, in relation to the Executive's tendering process, all bidders must be treated equally and, in particular, post-tender negotiations must not, in accordance with HM Treasury guidance, be treated preferentially, (m) whether it will now order, or recommend, an investigation into the matter and, if so, by whom such an investigation should be carried out and whether, pending the outcome of such an investigation, the tender process should be the subject of intervention in order to protect the rights of all parties who submitted a tender, (n) whether rival bidders to Cala-Morrison were informed that Cala-Morrison's bid was not "commercially viable" in its original draft and whether the council indicated that the office should be taken by the council on a 20-year lease on terms communicated to Cala-Morrison, but not to rival bidders, (o) whether the Executive has referred the circumstances of the matter to the Auditor General for Scotland and, if no such referral has been made, whether it will now be made, (p) whether the council has referred the matter to the Auditor General and, if no such referral has been made, whether the council will now refer the matter and (q) what action the Executive will now take in relation to this issue.

Tavish Scott: The conduct of procurement procedures by local authorities is largely a matter for the individual authority concerned, subject of course to any relevant legal requirements such as obligations under EU procurement law. Also, we understand that the procurement procedure in question has not yet been concluded. In light of this, it would not be appropriate for the Executive to comment on the case in question. In response to the specific questions (a) to (q):

  (a) the procurement procedure in question is a matter for Edinburgh City Council and Edinburgh International Conference Centre Ltd (EICC). No information has been received by the Executive other than that reported in the media and some background information provided by Edinburgh City Council (the council) to assist the Executive in responding to these questions;

  (b) The Executive has not provided advice to the council or EICC on this procurement procedure;

  (c) The question of whether or not in fact one bidder was permitted to alter the details of its bid is a matter for the council and EICC. Caselaw of the European Court of Justice suggests that it is not appropriate to allow only one bidder to alter the terms of its bid if competition might be distorted as a result (for example, where the bidder would gain an unfair advantage over its competitors). The Executive does not routinely advise councils on procurement matters, although informal advice on procurement policy and EU procurement law obligations is provided on an ad hoc basis as and when requested. To date, the council and EICC have not sought advice from the Executive;

  (d) The question of whether or not one bidder was given specific information that other bidders did not receive is a matter for the council and EICC;

  (e) Caselaw of the European Court of Justice suggests that providing material information to some bidders and not to others, to the effect that recipients gain an advantage over their competitors, would be contrary to EU procurement law;

  (f) This is a matter for the council and EICC subject to any over-riding requirements of EU procurement law;

  (g) Failure to comply with EU procurement law is actionable in the Court of Session. Complaints may be brought by aggrieved bidders who can seek interdicts and/or damages against the individual contracting authority. Costs and damages associated with Court of Session actions for non-compliance are the responsibility of the contracting authority and complainant(s). Complaints regarding failure to comply with EU procurement law can also be made to the European Commission. If the European Commission brings legal proceedings, responsibility rests with the Member State. Since procurement is a devolved matter, the Executive takes the lead in handling European Commission complaints regarding Scottish public procurement. The council has advised that a contract has not yet been let and therefore in such circumstances damages may not be applicable;

  (h) The Executive has no plans to intervene in what is essentially a matter for the council and EICC;

  (i) The Executive has regular contacts with Edinburgh City Council;

  (j) It would be inappropriate for the Executive to comment at this stage on what is essentially a matter for the council and EICC;

  (k) It would be inappropriate for the Executive to comment at this stage on what is essentially a matter for the council and EICC;

  (l) It is a fundamental principle of both EU procurement law and the Executive's procurement policies that all bidders must be treated fairly and equally. Also, post-tender negotiations must not be conducted in a manner which results in preferential treatment for particular bidders or which results in the distortion of competition. Procurement is a devolved matter and HM Treasury Guidance has in some cases been superseded by Executive guidance;

  (m) As explained in the response to question (g) above, aggrieved bidders have the right of redress through the Court of Session and/or complaint to the European Commission. Bidders may instigate proceedings at their own discretion should they believe that they risk being disadvantaged through failure on the part of the council and/or EICC to comply appropriately with EU procurement law. I understand that the EICC and the council has not yet entered into a contract with any of the bidders. Against this background and at this stage, the Executive does not see any need to order or recommend a separate investigation;

  (n) This is a matter for the council and EICC;

  (o) The Executive has not referred the matter to the Auditor General for Scotland, nor does it envisage doing so in the future;

  (p) This is a matter for the council, and

  (q) Having made enquiries of the council in preparing this response, the Executive has been advised that the council and EICC are seeking legal advice regarding the various issues that have been raised by bidders for this contract and that a decision on the way forward has not yet been taken. As things stand, therefore, the Executive has no plans to take action in respect of this matter.

Minimum Wage

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people in (a) each local authority area and (b) Scotland earn the minimum wage.

Mr Jim Wallace: This information is not held centrally.

  The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have advised the Low Pay Commission that neither the Labour Force Survey nor the New Earnings Survey produce accurate estimates of people earning the minimum wage. However, they have developed a methodology, that adjusts data in the two main surveys in order to produce a single estimate of low pay incidence. The ONS have not applied this methodology to obtain estimates for Scotland or local authorities in Scotland.

Planning

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is still considering incorporating a third party right of appeal into planning law.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: On 1 April we launched a consultation on Rights of Appeal in Planning  which   runs until 30 July. We will not take a decision on rights of appeal until all the responses to that consultation have been carefully analysed.